Flair Writing makes strong debut, lists at 65% premium over its issue price

The stock listed at Rs 503 on the BSE and at Rs 501 on the NSE. The issue price was Rs 304 per share

Flair Writing Industries made a strong stock market debut on December 1 with its shares getting listed at Rs 503 on the BSE, a 65 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 304 per share. The stock of the stationary company listed at Rs 501 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Post listing, the stock moved higher to Rs 514.40 on the NSE. At 10:02 AM, it was quoting at Rs 454.65, 9 per cent lower from its opening level. It has hit a low of Rs 452.55 so far in the intraday trade. A combined 10.5 million equity shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE.

"The listing was above expectations given the strong fundamentals of the company and the positive investor sentiment surrounding the IPO. Flair Writing is a leading manufacturer of writing instruments in India with a well-diversified product portfolio and a strong brand reputation. The company has a proven track record of growth and profitability. The IPO was oversubscribed 49.28 times, indicating strong investor interest. Overall, Flair is a fundamentally sound company with a strong growth outlook," said Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth, Swastika Investmart.

Industry snapshot

Flair Writing is engaged in developing and manufacturing of writing instruments that are tailored to the continuously shifting market. They manufacture and distribute writing instruments including pens, stationery products, and calculators. They have also diversified into manufacturing houseware products and steel bottles.

The company's innovative brands are Flair, Hauser, Pierre Cardin, Flair Creative, Flair Houseware, and the Zoox. The company has the production capacity to churn out 2 billion pieces annually.

Flair is among the top 3 players in the overall writing instruments industry with a revenue of Rs 915.55 crore in financial year 2023. It occupied a market share of approximately 9 per cent in the overall writing, and creative instruments industry in India as of March 31, 2023.

The company also contract manufactures writing instruments as an OEM for export and for sale in India. They also provide customised corporate gifting products to their corporate customers.

"With over 45 years of market presence, its flagship brand 'Flair' reflects stability, and the company maintains the largest distribution network in the country. Moreover, its business efficiency has been improved with existing products, resulting in bright prospects," said analysts at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers.

Flair Writing is one of the leading companies in the industry and operates with a domestic market share of 9 per cent. The company has outperformed industry with a revenue growth at 14 per cent CAGR between FY17-23 (industry growth at 5.5 per cent). Flair has delivered a healthy performance in FY23 with 19.5 per cent of operating margin which is best in the industry. Also, ROE and ROCE stood at 27.1 per cent and 30.5 per cent in FY23 which is well above peer performance, said those at Nirmal Bang Securities in IPO note.